Path of the Secular Humanist: The power to control evolution

"We believe that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of human life." — Paul Kurtz

In an exchange with a friend, I was asked who I thought should be TIME Magazine's Person of the Year. It was most impressive that this friend correctly predicted the eventual winner(s): "The Silence Breakers" sharing their stories about sexual misconduct by numerous high-profile men in entertainment, media, business, politics, and sports. This was a watershed event which perhaps will bring about a total change in male behavior in the direction of compassion, gratitude, and respect for women.

The two runners-up were Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump. In true fashion, my prediction/choices were nowhere to be found on the TIME list. But then again, on election eve 2016, I went to bed certain that the first female U.S. President had been elected. Wrong again. Go figure.

Anyhow, my friend let me know it did not have to be a "Person" of the Year, but could "Persons" of the Year, a group of people who have influenced all of us and hopefully for the better. So here they are, Hempstead's 2017 Persons of the Year: Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D., and Richard Dawkins, Ph.D., for their contributions to evolutionary biology joined by Lawrence Krauss, Ph.D., and Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ph.D., for advancing understanding of cosmology and astrophysics.

To stay in unison with feminism coming of age, allow me to concentrate on Dr. Doudna of the University of California-Berkeley and her discovery of CRISPRcas9. Drs. Dawkins, Krauss, and deGrasse Tyson will be celebrated in next month's commentary.

Although opinions will vary, some of the most significant scientific achievements of the past 100 years should include:

vaccines;

overwhelming credible-evidence in the fossil record for evolution by a blind process called natural selection without the need for a guiding invented deity;

extension of Darwin's evolution by natural selection by advances in molecular biology, most importantly the mapping of the entire human genome composed of DNA;

the maturation of cosmology into evidence-based science by the discovery of cosmic background radiation which was generated by the "singularity" called the Big Bang 13.52 billion years ago;

the internet, which has allowed the free flow of knowledge across the planet;

the Higgs Boson;

the remarkable tool devised by Dr. Doudna known as CRISPR.

CRISPR is short for CRISPRcas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats). It is a tool that can be applied to "somatic" cells which have differentiated into specific tissues like blood, liver, nerve and muscle. It can also be used on "pluripotential" cells which have not yet differentiated into specific tissues. These cells are called the "germ line." Think editing of eggs, sperm and embryos.

CRISPR has started a revolution in genetic engineering. It is efficient, cost-effective, relatively easy and very accurate compared with past techniques.

How does CRISPR work? A simple analogy: Consider that a scientist is a taxi driver. He has some scissors in the taxi's trunk. His passenger is a good piece of DNA which codes for good health. The taxi driver travels into a cell with a sick piece of DNA causing misery, suffering and disease. So, the driver takes out the scissors, snips out the bad piece of DNA and replaces it with the good piece. Voila! Disease out and good health in!

Is CRISPR science fiction? An over-hyped pipe dream? Absolutely not. The potential benefits are almost limitless. A few examples include:

the eradication of many severe genetic diseases;

cures for cancer, heart disease, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's;

enabling farmers, animal breeders and world leaders to solve the world's hunger crisis with CRISPR-generated disease-free crops and enhanced livestock;

the eradication of all mosquito-bourne diseases by destroying this useless pest completely. No more malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, West Nile virus, Zika virus and many others which account for 1 million annual deaths, half of which are children.

Can we justify not taking this technology out of the lab and into the real world?

It is important to realize that two-thirds if Americans want this research to proceed unimpeded by religions, clerics, pseudoscientists, supernaturalists or creationists clinging to Bronze Age dogmas and doctrines. Such people will label the majority of humans as the "Culture of Death." Before doing so, I would ask them to consider they are part of a "Culture of Needless Suffering And Purposeful Cruelty" or better yet, let's stop the name-calling. We Humanists are both pro-life and pro-choice. There are desperate patients and their families that want this technology and they deserve access to whatever cures that can be provided.

So my hat goes off to Dr. Jennifer Doudna as Hempstead's Person and Humanist of the Year. For those of you so inclined, consider reading her book "A Crack in Creation" which describes her discovery (the tool) and the the task before us all: the ethics, morals, advantages, and incredible potential benefits for healing the sick and feeding the hungry.

And to TIME's "Silence Breakers," take note and be proud of this woman's contribution to humanity, as well as yours.

Dr. Richard W. Hempstead has been in private practice in dermatology in Las Cruces since 1984.